


For Science

by Gort



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Episode: s01e20 Nothing Personal, F/M, First Kiss, Fitz is always down for an experiment, Hideous motel decor, Jemma secretly reads Cosmo, Sharing a Bed, Shipper Skye in full effect, Sleepy Cuddles, extreme fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 05:08:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14969753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gort/pseuds/Gort
Summary: S1. Between 1X20 and 1x21. Jemma is rather tired of everyone assuming that she and Fitz are together so they decide that perhaps an experiment is in order.Beta'd by Sunalso





	For Science

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it's a motel fic. Apparently, I have to include a sleepy Fitz in all stories.

Skye tossed her bag on one of the motel beds, yawning. “I’ll take this one, you guys can have the other.” Then she walked into the bathroom and closed the door before Jemma could question her dubious grasp on how to properly assign beds.

Fitz dropped his bag on the other bed, which was covered in an absolutely hideous flowered comforter probably older than they were, and rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh…” He glanced at Jemma “I could sleep on the floor?”

She suppressed a shudder. “Good lord, no, I don’t even want to think about what kind of microbial activity is occurring in these carpets.” Fitz peered down at the floor, lifting one foot like he thought he could catch a glimpse, and Jemma grinned despite their current unsettling situation. If everything else was falling apart, at least Fitz was still the same. It was quite comforting, really.

When Skye reemerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, Fitz had already kicked off his shoes and was leaning back against the headboard, poking at his phone, while Jemma waited patiently next to him, her hands clasped in her lap. She immediately stood. “Skye, I think it would be easier for us to share and to let Fitz have the other bed.”

Skye, dressed in her pajamas, looked like she was contemplating that for a moment, but then she shook her head and turned back the comforter on the bed she’d claimed. For herself. “Nah, I totally kick in my sleep. You’d wake up all bruised, and not in a fun way.” Shooting Jemma a wink, she grabbed her laptop and mirrored Fitz’s position while Jemma tried to come up with a retort that didn’t accidentally impugn rough sex (she wasn’t sure where Skye stood on the matter) or insult Fitz, who was quite sensitive about what he considered his lack of appeal to the opposite sex no matter how many times she told him he was being ridiculous and it wasn’t as though she didn’t find him attractive it’s just that they weren’t…like that. Even though everyone always assumed they were.

Rolling her eyes, Jemma gave up, grabbed her bag, and stomped off the bathroom. At least she knew now that she needed to wear an extra layer to bed, Fitz was a terrible blanket hog.

***

Jemma’s eyes popped open. Light from the streetlamps outside was filtering in around the edges of the curtains, which meant it was still the middle of the night, and she was absolutely boiling.  She wrinkled her nose and wiggled out of her sweatshirt, only accidentally elbowing Fitz once. He barely moved, so she was pretty sure she hadn’t woken him up. She heaved a sigh of relief as she flung the sweatshirt aside and cool air washed across the skin exposed by her loose tank top.

Fitz mumbled something and shifted in his sleep, taking more of her pillow with him than he already had, which was most of it. She gave an experimental tug to see if she might reclaim more than just a corner, but Fitz’s head was apparently heavier than she thought. Jemma sighed, scooted a little closer to him, and managed to find enough pillow so she wasn’t too terribly uncomfortable.

She hadn’t thought he was awake, so the hand curling around her waist was a bit of a surprise. Jemma froze, waiting, but he didn’t seem to be trying to get her attention, just pull her closer. He mumbled her name under his breath, tugging at her again, and she let him slide her over until she was tucked against his side, too curious about what he was doing to stop him. Plus, he’d situated her perfectly in the event that she preferred to use his shoulder as a pillow, which she did. It was much more comfortable than some lumpy motel one.

She settled her head in the spot she liked best. He smelled better than the motel pillows too. He shifted again, rolling towards her slightly and rubbing his foot against hers. His hand was splayed across the small of her back, his thumb tucked up under the hem of her shirt and stroking her bare skin. Already, she could feel sleep creeping back up to claim her.

He nuzzled against her temple. “Love you,” he mumbled. Jemma was positive now he wasn’t awake. He was never this affectionate when he was conscious. Still, it was nice to hear he cared. They’d lost too many friends recently. She patted his t-shirt covered chest.

“Love you too, Fitz,” she whispered. 

***

The next time Jemma awoke, sunlight was streaming in around the curtains and Skye was standing at the foot of the bed, beaming at her and Fitz. She was fully dressed and carrying her laptop.

Jemma lifted her head from its comfortable spot on Fitz’s shoulder and squinted in Skye’s general direction. “Have you been standing there and watching us sleep?”

“You looked way comfy, I didn’t want to bother you,” Skye said. “Sleep well?” She waggled her eyebrows.

“Fine.” Jemma frowned. “Why, what’s going on?”

Skye put her hand on her hip. “Oh, you know, just heading out to do some computer stuff. At a coffee shop, because the coffee here totally sucks. Coulson’s off with Trip this morning and May’s…I have no idea what May’s doing. The point is, I’ll be gone for like…a _while._ ” She waggled her eyebrows again.

“Ok?” Jemma said cautiously.

“Then go,” Fitz mumbled into the pillow and lifted the arm wrapped around Jemma to flap a hand in Skye’s general direction. “And let the rest of us sleep.” He dropped his arm again, tucking it up under his chin instead, and Jemma found herself strangely disappointed.

Skye snorted. “Yeah, ok, Mr. Cranky Pants, jeez. See you guys way later!”

The door slammed shut behind her and Jemma dropped her head back against the pillow Fitz had pushed over towards her side. She wiggled, trying to get comfortable, but it was no use. “You’re not going to go back to sleep, are you?” Fitz asked, sounding resigned.

“No.”

He cracked his eyes open. “Breakfast then?”

***

“What are we supposed to do all day?” Fitz was sprawled out on the bed again, this time contemplating the ceiling, and Jemma was sitting next to him, her chin propped on her hand. They’d managed to find some food at a nearby diner, though it hadn’t been very good, and the day stretched out in front of them, a blank, empty canvas on which Jemma really wasn’t sure what to put. They had no lab, so that was out, and no mission, so there was nothing to plan for. There was no Bus, either, which meant she didn’t even have her favorite books to keep her company.

“I don’t think there’s much we can do, besides what Skye was implying this morning.”

Fitz’s jaw dropped. “Uh, you want to...what Skye was implying?” Jemma watched in amusement as the tips of his ears turned red. 

“I’m kidding, Fitz. She’s being ridiculous.” 

“Oh.” Fitz scowled at the ceiling. “Right. Ridiculous.”

“We’ve been friends for seven years,” Jemma said. “You’d think at some point people would understand that’s possible without…I don’t know, romantic nonsense.”

“Nonsense,” Fitz repeated morosely.

“I mean, not that we still wouldn’t be friends,” she assured him. “Of course we would be, even if there were…nonsense.” Fitz turned his head slightly, looking up at her. His curls were an absolute mess this morning, it was very endearing. Jemma let out a loud sigh. “It’s just, what, do they think one day we’ll…I don’t know, kiss or something, and realize we were meant for each other?”

Fitz propped himself up on his elbows, his brow furrowing. “Wait, there’s kissing now?”

“That’s a very simplistic view of relationships,” Jemma continued. She should probably save all this lecturing for Skye, but there was no harm in running it by Fitz, first. He never seemed to mind listening to her ramble on, just like she rather enjoyed listening to him rant about things he was overly-invested in. It was quite a nice feature of their friendship. “I mean, first of all, just because someone might be good at kissing doesn’t guarantee any degree of compatibility in other things. It’s a terrible baseline. Mutual ideals are a much better starting point, but of course, no one thinks of that.”

“You made me take every single one of those bloody stupid Cosmo compatibility quizzes with you at the Academy,” Fitz pointed out. “Clearly someone’s thought of it.”

“They were shockingly unscientific!”

“We matched in all of them.”

“That just proves my point,” Jemma said triumphantly, turning so she was facing him. “We’re excellent friends, and those damn quizzes didn’t even acknowledge that as an option.”

“Jemma.” Fitz sat up and copied her posture, sitting with his legs crossed, facing her on the bed. “What’s going on?”

“What? Nothing.” Jemma plucked at the bedspread underneath her. 

“Jemma.” Fitz’s tone shifted to the amused, tolerant one he used sometimes when she got too heated about the way science was being portrayed in a movie. “This is not the first time anyone’s implied things. Why is this bothering you so much?”

Jemma shrugged one shoulder, her eyes on the hideous bedspread. Whoever made it had apparently decided muddy brown was an excellent choice for flowers. They were very wrong. “I don’t know. It’s just…she’s a friend, our friend, and she sees us every day and usually, it’s people who don’t know us very well, but she does and what if she’s right?” Jemma said the last in a rush, keeping her eyes trained on the bed and feeling a flush creep across her cheeks.  

Fitz was silent, his fingertips tapping on his knees. “Ok, so, you’re upset because Skye is implying we’re more than friends, and you think she might be right?” he finally said.

Jemma shrugged her other shoulder.

“Do you want to find out if she’s right?” he asked cautiously.

She lifted her head and stared at him, taking in the face she knew practically better than her own at this point. His button-up was wrinkled and she’d barely convinced him not to wear a tie since they weren’t actually working. His eyes were very blue in the sunlight coming in through the window. She’d always thought they were lovely. She swallowed heavily. “I don’t…maybe?”

Fitz caught his lower lip between his teeth and her eyes zeroed in on his mouth. “Alright then, let’s try it.”

“What?” Jemma asked, startled. “Now? But what if she’s wrong? I don’t want to lose you, Fitz, I can’t…”

He shifted his hands from his knees to hers and her protest died in her throat. “You said we’d be friends, no matter what,” he pointed out.

“Oh, yes, I did,”

“And then you mentioned kissing.” Jemma watched, mesmerized, as Fitz leaned in closer. “And I’m pretty sure I remember you telling me you loved me last night,” he whispered.

Jemma’s mouth dropped open. “You said it first!”

A smile flitted across Fitz’s face. “Then I think we’ll be just fine.” Jemma had to stop herself from leaning back as his nose brushed against hers. Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest and she had no idea what she was supposed to do with her hands. The first press of his lips against hers was surprisingly soft, and her eyes slid closed as he adjusted the angle, finding the perfect fit. She felt his hand graze her cheek and reached out blindly, fisting a hand into his shirt as she opened her mouth to his questing tongue and decided this was the best hypothesis she’d ever tested.

She let out an entirely accidental whimper when he pulled back, his eyes searching her face. She didn’t let go of his shirt, so he didn’t get very far. His hands settled on her hips, rubbing small circles. “Ok?” he asked. She could see the anxiety he was trying to hide.

“Very ok,” she breathed. Jemma leaned forward, bumping their noses together inelegantly as she sought his mouth and this time their kiss was anything but soft. Fitz’s tongue grew bolder and his hands followed suit, sliding up her back and tangling in her hair. They weren’t close enough, Jemma decided. Frustrated, she managed to get to her knees, not breaking their kiss, and climb into his lap. Fitz made a startled noise before sliding his hands down to cradle her bum and maybe all those Cosmo quizzes had been right, after all. They were definitely very compatible.

***

“Hey guys,” Skye said, opening the door. “I was…whoops!”

Jemma let out a startled yelp and yanked the ugly comforter over her and Fitz, who was currently devoting himself and his tongue to making sure her breasts were thoroughly appreciated. His fingers were working their magic on her clit and she was fairly certain one couldn’t actually die from too many orgasms but she was willing to test the theory.

“I’ll, um, come back later!” Skye called. “But not too much later because it’s, like, almost dinner and Coulson’s back! Ok, bye!”

Jemma heard Skye squeal loudly on the other side of the door but the heat pooling in her belly distracted her, as did the pleasurably-rough scratch of Fitz’s chin against her nipple as he lifted his head. Her body bowed up off the bed as Fitz drove her over the edge again before she collapsed in a sated heap. Jemma stared dazedly at the ceiling and tried to catch her breath.

“Was that Skye?” Fitz mumbled into her cleavage.

“Uh huh. Apparently, it’s dinnertime.”

Fitz lifted his head, looking surprised. “Is it?”

“We’ll have to finish testing this theory later,” she sighed, running a hand over Fitz’s curls.

“I’m afraid this may be a long-running experiment,” he said solemnly, his hand sliding up to cup her breast.

Jemma smiled. “My favorite kind.”


End file.
